Life Goes On
by stella brillare
Summary: Richard Castle never breaks a promise to Kate Beckett.  One-shot


**Authors Note: Wrote this on the way to a writers workshop earlier today. I think it's pretty good, actually..**

**Be warned, never been to Central Park at Christmas. Actually, I've never been period, so this is just how I'd imagine it. **

**Disclaimer: I'm not Andrew Marlowe. I'm just a poor girl with big dreams. **

"_...I'll be there in five minutes Kate, I swear." She sighed, switching her phone from her left ear to her right._

"_And why don't I believe you?" She said into the receiver, hiding her anger. The man on the other line didn't respond, but Kate heard a sigh. "That's what I thought." Sliding her phone closed, she put it in the pocket of her jacket. She grabbed the hard cover book out of her bag and pulled it close to her chest. The books always gave her comfort, made her smile. There would be nights when she would just cuddle up on her couch with her Mom's old red blanket, and read them. Over and over. These weren't just books to her, they were her escape. They almost always ended with someone getting the justice that they deserved, and that could have been the reason she enjoyed them so much, because they weren't anything like her life. She never got the justice that the people in the book got. _

_ Fifteen minutes later, she was next in line, and still no sign of Will, her boyfriend. She wasn't sure why she held out hope that he would have showed up. There was hardly any reason for him to stand in line with her for an hour just to get a book signed. Yet, she hoped. When the group of people in front of her walking away from the table, smiling. She took a deep breath, and walked up to the table. There was a red table cloth , along with a bunch of the same books staked neatly along the sides. She handed the man behind the table, the copy she had purchased, of the book that he wrote._

"_What's you're name?" he asked her. _

"_Kate." she replied with a small smile as she brushed her hair out of her face. She couldn't wait for the day when she had time to get it cut. She loved her long hair, but it really just got in the way of everything that she did, and she was about fed up with it. _

"_That's a lovely name." Her smile grew wider when she learned that Richard Castle, one of her favorite authors, actually liked her name. Before she let herself get too excited, she told herself that he probably said that to one third of the people he saw. _

"_Thanks." was all she replied with. _

"_You look a little down." he said as he wrote in her book. _

"_Just a rough day." he handed her book back, and she nodded a thanks. "but getting this signed has made it a little better." she continued as she held up her book. _

"_have a great day, Kate." he said with a friendly smile. Kate turned on her heel, walking out of the bookstore. When she was outside, she leaned against the wall, opening her book to read what he wrote in her book. _

"_Kate, _

_hold you're head up high. Life goes on and it will get better. I promise. _

_-Richard Castle."_

Years later, she sit cuddled up in an arm chair, her blanket draped over her shoulders. She watched as the fire flickered in the dark room, her mind wandering, thinking about the perfect first date she had gone one. Although, she wasn't sure if it counted as a first date, because her and Richard Castle had gone out many times before, but for some reason, this was different. It wasn't just two friends getting together at Remy's for a burger. This was an actual date. And it couldn't have been more perfect.

He took her to the restaurant Q3, although, it was a little strange, because Madison Queller was there, watching the two of them like hawks. Despite that, it was a lovely meal, in one of the best restaurants in New York.

After they ate, they walked around Central Park, stopping at an outdoor coffee stand and buying themselves some coffee, because it was kind of "their thing." Seeing as it was around the beginning of December, there were Christmas lights hung up in some of the trees, making it all the more beautiful. As they walked, Beckett kept herself close to Castle's side the whole time.

When they arrived back at Beckett's apartment, Castle gave her a kiss on the cheek before saying goodbye. It wasn't very Castle-like, but it was sweet, and made Beckett's hear flutter.

She stood up from the chair she was sitting in and walked across the room to the bookshelf, pulling off the book that she had Castle sign so many years ago, opening it to the page where he had signed the book.

_"Kate, _

_hold you're head up high. Life goes on and it will get better. I promise. _

_-Richard Castle."_

A small smile crept upon her face as she quickly walked back over to the chair she was sitting in, turning on the table-lamp, and opening the book to re-read it again.

Castle was right, life goes on, and there was no denying that it did get better. Even back then, Richard Castle never broke a promise to her.


End file.
